Written by James M. Tate / 5/22/2013 / 2 Comments / 2013 , biopic , chris evans , crime , michael shannon , neo noir , ray liotta , wionna ryder
MICHAEL SHANNON IS THE ICEMAN
year: 2013 cast: Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, Wionna Ryder rating: ** |
The twist here is that Kuklinski has a family while working as a hit man. Enter Wionna Ryder as his soft-spoken passive wife, Deborah, supposedly oblivious to her husband's occupation. With two beautiful daughters, the Kuklinski clan seems like a Norman Rockwell painting. But the family scenes spend too much time wallowing in a contrived sense of irony, never standing out on their own merit. Until the mobsters hit too close to home, and Kuklinski begins showing his dark side in front of the wife and kids, allowing Michael Shannon to emote past an otherwise limited steely countenance. One particular scene, after Kuklinski lets a seventeen-year-old girl witness go unharmed, and then attempts to protect her from a fellow hit man named Mr. Freezy (played by Chris Evans, who would introduce him to the art of freezing victims to thwart the cop’s timetable), shows us a vulnerable side missing in the segments with family and friends. This also provides a Film Noir aspect of a killer with a kind heart beating, somewhere. But like some of the duller Noirs, there’s more style than substance going on.
Kuklinski’s gig wasn’t a short one. The searing biopic zooms from the sixties to the eighties through music and distinguishing hairstyles and mustaches all sizes, yet there’s never a sense of importance in any decade. That is, we never stick in one place long enough for anything to really matter.
Labels:
2013,
biopic,
chris evans,
crime,
michael shannon,
neo noir,
ray liotta,
wionna ryder
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I've heard and read about the Iceman's story for quite some time, have seen interviews, heard interviews with him. I have always been fascinated by him and his story. I just heard about this movie a couple days ago. I suppose I'll have to run out and see it.
ReplyDeleteGood review as always.
I bet a documentary would be better than the movie.
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